Why the Bezos-backed Met Gala is so controversial – The Latest

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:11The Met Gala, it's got a lot to do with fashion, but it is also about like who's got the power. You know, it's a grotesque pageant, a sort of striking representation of the way that rich people co-ops arts and sport and culture. And at the moment, the big tech has the money. Tomorrow is one of fashion's most glamorous nights, the annual Met Gala in New York City. This year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos are the lead sponsors and honorary chairs. The thing about Jeff Bezos is that he's definitely not known for a star. And I would say Lauren Sanchez is not particularly known for a star either.

0:44In the last sort of nine months or so, there've also been rumors that Bezos is possibly plans to buy Condé Nast. The sort of crossover between ethics and the Met Gala Day is not the obvious one. Tonight's glitzy Met Gala in New York will be co-chaired by Jeff Bezos during condemnation and calls for a boycott. Why has Anna Wintour turned the fashion gala into a tech bro ball? From the Guardians Today on Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hall. Well, I'm joined by Morena Ferrier, the Guardians fashion and lifestyle editor. Thanks so much for dialing in, Morena. No problem. So this evening, there is this hotly anticipated, and it's like this blockbuster moment in the fashion calendar, isn't it?

1:27The Met Gala in New York, which is hosted by Anna Wintour, formerly the editor of Vogue, now in a sort of oversight role at Condé Nast, the publishing company. But this year's gala is drawing controversy for the sponsorship and attendance of Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez. What's going on in terms of that relationship and why this is happening? So the Met Gala technically is a fundraiser for the Costum Institute, which is a part of the museum. And they raise money through selling very, very, very expensive tickets. It's$100 ,000 of tickets, right? which is more than it was last year and for a whole table it's 350 000 it's got a lot to do with fashion but it is also about kind of like who's got the power who are the big names and also the sort of interesting time for the industry because luxury fashion is kind of bottoming out a little bit so they need money basically and this is kind of where jeff bezos has sort of stepped in Now, he already has a relationship with Anna Wintour and Vogue in that Lauren Sanchez, his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, appeared on the cover of Vogue last year.

2:40It was about her wedding. Anna Wintour was quite involved in that side of things, helping her pick her dress. And so over the past eight or nine months, there's just been a kind of very sort of gradual sort of influx from the Bezos couple into the fashion industry. and we've kind of reached the tip of the iceberg here, which is funding or partially funding the Met Gala. And it's thought that they are donating$10 million. I don't know the exact figure and there's different figures kind of on the internet, but it's a lot of money, basically. I mean, Moenna, in so many ways, Jeff Bezos needs no introduction, but obviously is in many ways emblematic of the toxicity of this tech bro billionaire class.

3:24Plus the reported working conditions at Amazon, where he made his initial fortune, his recent purchase of the Washington Post, which has led to mass layoffs of hundreds of journalists there. his support, his close ties with the Trump administration, his initial donation of one million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund, his attendance, along with other tech giants of the inauguration itself, and his funding through Amazon Studios of a documentary, in inverted commas, about Trump's wife Melania that has proved highly controversial. So the fact that this man with his wife are not just attending, but co-chairing and sponsoring an event like the Met Gala speaks to something politically, doesn't it?

4:11It has come at, I mean, the timing is terrible, obviously, with laying everybody off at the Washington Post. So he's not, he's obviously not shy about his involvement in it. And some people describe the Met Gala as the big box clout store, which is kind of the idea that these people are kind of vying for cultural relevancy. The thing about fashion is people have an idea of it, and it seems kind of rarefied, and it seems exciting and exclusive. It's something that even if you're all the money in the world, you can't necessarily access it. And I think that's kind of what these people with big money, what they want.

4:40It's the one thing they can't, apart from happiness, they can't necessarily get into that world. And they like to be associated with something quite rarefied and exclusive like that. The whole thing is a right for symbolism because it is obviously all about optics and it's about Amazon are selling clothes as well. And the sort of circular aspect of this is kind of quite sort of startling. and that's kind of what makes it sort of feel so shocking because at the same time it's in the middle of New York which you know it's obviously a wealthy city but there's great growth inequality there and you have this one night where there's people always people kind of walking up these steps because essentially it's just some steps people walk up the steps and they go into a room we don't see them they have a dinner and they have a dance and they pay an extraordinary amount of money for it but they do big people go like Kamala Harris went last year I mean she went around she slipped in the back but she still went and people do say yes to it.

5:30It's hard to say no to Anna. And I suspect, you know, with Bezos' power and his influence, people will find it hard, well, have probably found it hard, to say no to the invite this year as well. Well, one person we know has said no is Soran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York. And it is interesting, the optics of this, as you say, this sort of event that by definition is so elitist, happening in a city which has just voted in, a socialist progressive mayor who has decided to boycott the event along with his wife for the first time yeah i mean it's not i don't it's funny because i don't know if he's technically hasn't boycotted it he's just declined the invite um but yes it's been for decades mayors have gone and as i said lots of politicians do go interestingly trump is apparently bad has been banned since 2017 which is interesting so she obviously she does have some integrity there but obviously he was a big, the Trumps were a big kind of, they always went and there doesn't seem to be much kind of, you know the sort of crossover between ethics and the Metcalf doesn't seem to be a kind of, you know, it's not an obvious one but yes, Mandani has declined and I think it's very smart of him not to go because when a few years ago Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went and she wore this sort of beautiful white dress with the words tax, the rich, sort of painted on the back of it and she obviously was using it as a kind of very canny photo opportunity for her but there was a lot of backlash on the left and the right that she just didn't need to go really they don't pay for their tickets uh in their defense but it's it you know the problem is it is it is a it is the whole thing is a performance it is about how good you look it's about clothes and the clothes cost money and so the optics just you know however you sort of try and frame it attending is just not necessarily the right optics if you do do align yourself as a sort of socialist.

7:21Putting the politics aside, I mean, this was originally a fashion event organised by the most powerful woman in the fashion industry who's been this sort of gatekeeper of taste for so many decades now. I mean, I think it's safe to say Jeff Bezos is not renowned for his great sense of style. And the gala itself is being described as a tech bro ball, given that OpenAI, Snapchat, Meta have all bought these enormously expensive tables as well. So what does that tell us? Well, I mean, it's interesting because there is an idea that it is very exclusive and very elitist. And it's all those things. It's invite only.

8:01But at the same time, she is a gatekeeper, but also she needs the right people there. It's all about optics. It's about having... It's about optics. It's about securing financial backing. And Jeb Boss is kind of at the back of that. And sort of wealthy people have always had their sort of playthings. There's kind of a Gatsby element to it, right? So if you think of a culture institution, it's always got slightly murky benefactors. And we know that from sort of the sacral involvement in lots of museums. Including the Met where the gala takes place. Exactly. And, you know, in many ways, he's just another kind of version of that.

8:36The function of the gala itself, you know, it's a grotesque pageant. But this kind of, this very sort of nefarious sort of racial pipeline between the benefactors and the museum is not sort of unique to fashion. It's sort of a striking representation of the way that rich people co-opt arts and sport and culture. And at the moment, the big tech has the money. Now, you know, earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg was on the front row at the Prada show. Again, not a man known for his fantastic sense of style. No, no, no. And in some ways, I mean, the thing about Jeff Bezos is that he's definitely not known for his style.

9:10And I would say Lauren Sanchez is not particularly known for her style either. But she has a great interest in it. There has been an idea that perhaps Jeff Bezos is trying to bring Lauren into the fashion world to give us a bit of cultural cachet in that sense. In the last nine months or so, there have also been rumours that Bezos is possibly, or he plans to buy Condé Nast. Now, there's nothing to back this up at all, apart from the fact that they just seem to be quite involved in Vogue and in Condé Nast, and the Met Gala kind of sort of plays into that rumour. But this would kind of, you know, this doesn't not fuel that rumour.

9:48Oh, gosh. Jeff Bezos having yet more control over our media landscape doesn't fill the heart with gladness. But Moenna, thank you so much for your time. No problem. That's it for today. My huge thanks again to Moenna Ferrier, The Guardian's fashion and lifestyle editor. You can keep up with her writing over at theguardian.com. And do listen to today's episode of Politics Weekly, which is looking at why people are turning their backs on traditional parties ahead of the local elections later this week. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Latest. Today in Focus will be in your feeds as usual tomorrow morning.

10:20The Latest will be with you tomorrow night. This episode was presented by me, Lucy Hoff. It was produced by Bryony Moore and Sam Gruet. The lead producer was Zoe Hitch. This is The Guardian.